


Meet Me Half Way

by jounouchikatsuya19



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-08-21 18:37:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8256208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jounouchikatsuya19/pseuds/jounouchikatsuya19
Summary: There was a new girl in school. Well, relatively new. It’d been a few weeks now and the “new” novelty was wearing off as time went on. But not for Joey Wheeler.





	1. Tuesday

**Author's Note:**

> This is a heavily rewritten OC/self insert fic I originally wrote when I was in 8th grade! I'm super hesitant about posting this as my writing skills aren't the best. But I figured I'd give it a shot.
> 
> If things go well, I'll update with more. So let me know what you think! :)

There was a new girl in school. Well, relatively new. It’d been a few weeks now and the “new” novelty was wearing off as time went on. But not for Joey Wheeler. She was still very exciting and fun to talk to. Especially considering she was from Louisiana. Her words left her lips smooth and, when she was excited or passionate about something, that little twang showed up. He grew incredibly fond of her voice. But, the time he spent with her, he found there was more and more about her that he’d appreciate. The mound of loose curls held back in a ribbon every day, for instance. She told him her hair maintenance is a bit of a chore and school doesn’t provide as many opportunities to check her coiffure as often as she’d like so she keeps it simple. Another reason she keeps her makeup light (which was something he came to like). She only ever did her eye make-up—winged eyeliner, mascara, and sometimes a neutral eyeshadow. It was a good call, he believed, she had beautiful golden eyes he found he’d get lost in.

 

It took a while for Wheeler to realize that what he was feeling was a developing crush. It wasn’t even him that came to that conclusion—it took Tristan teasing him about how ‘giggly’ he was around her one day for him to notice.

 

He would describe their friendship as pretty casual in current standings. She was on good terms with his group of friends as well which he enjoyed. It helped that they had homeroom—the longest period of their day—together. She’d occasionally group up with whoever in the squad for projects that called for it. She’d sit with them at lunch every now and again, but she mostly enjoyed her lunch in the library alone. He couldn’t remember when it was bought up but they all agreed it’d be nice to hang out with her outside of school, and their sort of friend Kaiba unintentionally gave them a good opportunity for that to happen.

 

“There’s a new roller coaster and haunted house ride opening up at Kaiba Land this weekend! We should all go.” Tea suggested, she and Tristan looking over the pamphlet they’d picked up at McDonald’s the other day.

 

Yugi gave a quick nod, “Grandpa and I have a few new displays we want to put up in the shop but I can definitely meet you guys there afterwards.”

 

Joey had his chin resting in one of his palms, his eyes closed. He was never a morning person, the only time he’d wake up early would be for Saturday morning cartoons—a custom that still continues to this day. He took a sharp inhale through his nostrils that lead into a yawn. “I was thinking of inviting Haura this time around.”

 

“Oh! That’s a great idea, Joey, we haven’t hung out with her yet.” Tea chimed, the rest of the group gave an approving nod.

 

Tristan nudged Joey’s arm with his elbow, “you’d better learn to keep your screams to yourself if you’re going to win her over in the haunted house.”

 

Rolling his eyes and then closing them again, Joey settled his chin back in his palm, “yeah, yeah, keep bringing up something that happened when I was 10, Tristan.”

 

The brunette was trying to stifle his laughter once the teacher made his way into the room, closing the door behind him, “you should have seen your face, dude.”

 

“Joey,” Yugi leaned forward in his seat, his tone hushed. “Haura hasn’t come in yet.”

 

He straightened, looking to the back of the room to where her desk is. It was empty. Come to think about it, they didn’t get their ritualistic wave from her. He was so tired he didn’t realize. He could only shrug and shake his head, “she might be sick,” he quietly replied.

 

~~~~~

 

Class carried on for about an hour. They were on math--Joey’s least favorite subject--so he was deep in his head going over how he was going to ask Haura to join him and his group to the amusement park this weekend. What should he wear? He wanted to look good standing next to her. Wait…what would _she_ wear? He’s never seen her out of uniform before. Is she the type to wear a big sweater and leggings? Or maybe a cute skirt? _She’d look cute in either_ , he thought to himself. He had some money saved up from his summer job, he thought about sharing a cotton candy with her. The corners of his lips curled into a goofy grin.

 

Movement outside the classroom door caught his attention. The tall Seto Kaiba sauntered his way down the hall. It wasn’t so unusual for Kaiba to be late, which the school allowed, as he runs his own multi-million dollar company. They figured if he shows up and does well they had no qualms. Plus it might bring them some publicity.

 

Kaiba glanced to his side, to which whatever he was looking for must not have been there, leading him to half turn and look behind him. His body was turned enough for Joey to see Haura hurriedly trying to catch up to him. Joey’s eyes widened slightly, then curiously narrowed, now intently watching them.

 

Seto had stopped abruptly, offering an arm out, to which she placed a hand on and bent down slightly. She met her leg that she lifted half way to adjust one of her knee high socks that had apparently slipped down, using Kaiba as an anchor. There was a very small smile playing on Kaiba’s face as he watched her, Joey wasn’t even sure if he was actually smiling, but his expression was noticeably softer compared to his bored scowl. Something he’d never seen from the young millionaire before. For some reason, it made Joey’s mouth dry.

 

After fixing her sock, she straightened, giving her uniform a once over. Their mouths were moving, Joey could only assume she was thanking him. Eventually, her eyes met his and she gave him a smile to which Kaiba returned. His fingers carefully plucked something off her uniform but, instead of withdrawing his hand, a bent finger tucked under her chin. Something formed in Joey’s throat that made it difficult to swallow down. They stayed like that for a few moments until Haura lightly turned her head away, a visual blush to her cheeks. With a weak (but polite) wave they went their separate paths. The back of Joey’s eyes stung but he looked away before she looked into the classroom.

 

The door clicked then she entered the room. He looked over in her direction again, she was bowing now. “Please excuse my tardiness, teacher.”

 

The teacher casually waved his hand, “ah, yes, Ms. Haura. Glad you made it. Once we start on the classwork, I’ll give you the slip to fill in.”

 

She bowed again, turned to make her way to her desk but not before catching Joey’s gaze. She smiled and waved the same way she does every morning, which calmed some of his nerves—but not by much. He was leaned back in his chair with his leg resting on one of the bars of his desk. He gave her a weak smile and threw her a peace sign, earning him an amused sigh before she walked to her seat.

 

~~~~~

 

The bell rang, signaling lunch. Joey and his group occupied their usual table, pulling out their food from their bags. Joey normally buys, but he didn’t feel like eating right that moment. The cafeteria was at its usual moderately loud volume but he was in his head again and paid it no mind. Even the conversation going on between his friends was nearly muted until Yugi waved a hand in his face. “Joey? Are you alright?”

 

“Hm? Oh…yeah, just still a little tired.” He nearly mumbled.

 

“Oh, hey, Haura!” he’d heard Tea greet. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

 

She was with one of her girlfriends that sits at the table next to them. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

 

“Nothing much here, is the library closed today?” Yugi asked.

 

She nodded, “yeah, unfortunately. But I haven’t been down here with y’all in a while so I’m not upset.”

 

Joey felt a thud in his chest— _y’all_. There’s one of those times her accent slipped out, he could feel his cheeks getting warm.

 

“We’re always glad to have you,” Tristan added with a mouth full of food.

 

Another conversation began that Joey didn’t pay attention to until he heard Kaiba’s name. Haura’s friend saw her come in with him this morning and wanted to juicy details. Joey almost felt relieved, if there was one thing he could count on it was her friend filling him in on whatever gossip was going on at school. Which, he normally didn’t particularly care for, but in this instance, he was all ears.

 

“Oh,” she began almost dejectedly, “it wasn’t anything really. I missed my bus this morning and couldn’t reach my parents.”

 

“Okayyy, but how does Mr. Money Bags play into this?” Her friend teasingly pried, Joey hanging on every word.

 

Haura rolled her eyes playfully. “I figured if I had to walk I was at least going to make breakfast for myself so I left later than usual. So, I was on my way to school and I guess he saw me and offered me a ride.” Her friend was staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate, to which Haura obnoxiously laughed, “Bitch, that’s all! Nothing happened.”

 

Joey had to suppress a laugh and he nearly failed, so he made due by covering his mouth and looking away. She would have passionate outbursts like that every now and again, it was a part of her humor, leading to laughing fits within his circle of friends countless times.

 

“Oh, come on, Haura. You’re telling me you sat in silence the whole ride? You had to talk about _something_.”

 

“Oh my god, leave me alone,” she huffed.

 

Her friend jumped excitedly. “He said something, didn’t he?! I knew you were holding out on me!”

 

“How could you?” Tristan interjected with a silly lisp.

 

“Alright, alright.” She caved, now directly acknowledging both tables. “We were just talking about small stuff and it lead to Duel Monsters. Buuuut, he brought up the new stuff opening up at his park this weekend.”

 

 _Oh no_ , that lump in Joey’s throat reappeared. He didn’t notice but Yugi was carefully studying Joey’s face.

 

“He offered me a behind the scenes tour of everything before the park opens.”

 

“Oh my god, girl!” Her friend squealed, “he’s into you! You _have_ to go.”

 

Haura shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. It does seem really cool and generous but I don’t really know him.”

 

Her friend rolled her eyes, “I swear you are so dumb sometimes, Haura. It’s a date. That’s where you get to know each other.”

 

Haura was visibly nervous now, “yeah, but, why me? We only have gym together and we hardly talk.”

 

Joey could think of a few reasons why anyone would want to get closer to her. Her personality was infectious once she got passed being shy, not to mention she was beautiful.

 

“He wants to get to know you better, obviously. And if you have gym together he’s probably gotten a good view of your ass.” She waggled her eyebrow.

 

Haura yelped, smacking her friends arm, “I can’t believe you!”

 

Joey choked on his spit and coughed briefly, his cheeks pinked damn near immediately. He tried blowing it off as clearing his throat but he was unsure if he played that off successfully hearing a laugh coming from his friends. He shot them all a glare.

 

“Well, hey, Haura,” Yugi started, “we’re going to be there this weekend too and Joey had the idea to invite you.”

 

 _Oh boy_ , he thought, _of all times to be playing wingman_. But Haura was watching Joey now with a gentle smile on her face. “Aw, really?”

 

Those copper eyes on him made his cheeks hot. It was hard for him to make eye contact with her but he settled on looking at her nose. “Uh, y-yeah,” he stammered, “we always talk about meeting up outside of school so….uh, yeah.” He couldn’t look at her face anymore, “but, if you already have plans…” he trailed off.

 

A piece of paper slid in front of him, a phone number was neatly scrawled on it. Once he realized what it was his head shot up, “text me later so I have your phone number.” The bell rang and she stood, turning to his circle of friends who were all smiling for Joey. “Do you guys have a group chat?”

 

“Oh, yeah! Want us to add you?” Yugi asked.

 

“Please?” She playfully begged, unintentionally causing Joey to stir. “See you guys tomorrow!”

 

Once she was out of sight, Yugi, Tea, and Tristan all leapt on him, clamoring over him getting her number. Joey couldn’t help but smile widely. “Alright, alright, guys. Calm down. It’s just her number.”

 

Tristan did a pretty good impression of Haura’s friend from earlier, “I swear you are so dumb sometimes, Joey.”

 


	2. Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying this story! I'm trying my best to fill in some gaps I'm having issues with in the future chapters.  
> Constructive criticism is encouraged!

The school day ended and, as usual, Yugi and Joey began their walk home after meeting up after their last class. Now they were standing at an intersection waiting for their light to change, a line of buses waiting to do the same. Joey zealously carried on babbling and gesticulating about today’s events. Yugi, still paying attention, took in their surroundings, occasionally adding his own commentary when appropriate. Something caused him to look over Joey’s shoulder though, making him squint. After making out what--or rather who--it was he then he smiled, waving behind Joey.

 

Joey turned to see Haura waving at them from her bus, a wide smile on her face. He waved back wildly as she puffed out her cheeks, crossed her eyes, and pulled her eyelids down at them.

 

The two boys laughed, coming up with their own ridiculous faces to shoot at her. The bus started to move, Haura was hurriedly looking for something in her bag eventually pulling out her phone and pointing at it. Both boys quickly pulled their phones out and did the same, waving at her again when the bus past them.

 

Yugi looked at his friend, he was beaming. He couldn't help but smile as well, “that’s gotta feel nice, huh?”

 

He had to admit, their exchange put him in a much better mood. He felt like he was glowing all over. “Yeah, man. I mean...I still feel off about the earlier but it’s not nagging at me like it was before.”

 

“That’s a good start, Joey,” he smiled. It was their turn to use the crosswalk.

 

The scenery transitioned from the congested city to more a downtown/suburban area. The conversation shifted to their shared interests and a little about the homework for the night. It seemed as they neared Yugi’s house and grandfather’s store, he became a little more distant, which Joey picked up on.  “Something bothering you, Yuge?”

 

“Do you mind me asking you something kind of personal?”

 

 “Sure thing.” He tried to come off as supportive.

 

He hesitated, not out of caution but he wanted to make sure his question was worded properly. “How strongly do you feel about Haura?”

 

A nervous chuckle made its way out of the blonde, “jeez, Yuge, you’re not pulling any punches here are you?”

 

He gave him a similar chuckle. “You don’t have to answer that. But, I just think it’s important to have your feelings sorted out is all.”

 

“Nah, I hear ya.” He took a moment to muster up the courage to give his answer. He didn’t think saying his feelings out loud would make him feel so strange, even to his best friend. He brought a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it, looking away slightly. “I really like her, Yugi…like a lot a lot…” He let out another nervous laugh. “Don’t laugh at what I’m gonna say,” he gently warned.

 

Yugi placed a reassuring hand on his arm, “I would never. I also don’t want you to feel pressured.” That kind and completely understanding smile played on his face.

 

“Heh, I know,” He took a moment and swallowed, “I kind of…planned on asking her be my girlfriend this weekend.” He felt relief saying it out loud. “I think about her a lot when she’s not around, and I felt real fucking awful seeing Kaiba pawing her.”

 

“I could tell something was bothering you,” Yugi reassuringly pat him on the back, “I hope things work out for you this weekend. If there’s anything you need--I’m here.”

 

“Actually…” he began, looking down at his shoes. He realized it was the same pair he’s owned for quite some time now. They were pretty worn and stained. _Geez_  and what’s he going to wear? The same dingy green army jacket he’s owned for years? Not a chance, he wanted to impress her. “You wanna hit up the mall this week?”

 

“Sure, I think I can swing tomorrow. Just let me know.”

 

They reached Yugi’s place now so they said their goodbyes and Joey made his way to his place.

 

~~~~~

 

Once he made it home, Joey went straight to his room, dumped his bag by the door, and well deservedly flopped down on his bed face first. He rolled over and stared blankly at his wall. Today felt like a blur or…that it didn’t really happen…he couldn’t decide which. But he was here on his bed, lungs taking in and pushing out air, eyelids blinking, teeth chewing the chapped skin on his bottom lip. But today did happen. Even though he came to terms with it, he had to slide his hand into his pocket to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The sound of crinkling paper made the corners of his lips curl, then press his face into his pillow hiding his elated smile. He didn’t know who he was hiding it from but he couldn’t help himself.

 

Although he wanted to text her immediately, he decided to do it after dinner. That would give them both time to do their homework, eat, and do whatever they needed to get done.

 

~~~~~

 

After dinner and his chores were done and over with, Joey padded his way back to his room. Now that he had his phone in his hand his anxiety came back. He had two texts—one from Yugi and the other from Tristan—then a few new entries to the group chat.

 

Yugi:

_Make sure you add Haura to the group chat, we all want her number!_

_Let me know how it goes._

_Good luck!_

 

Simple enough.

 

Tristan:

_did u text her yet or did u chicken out???_

_;)))_

 

 _Gee, thanks, Tristan._ Even with that, a wave of confidence washed over him. He’d better take advantage of this and do it now while it lasted. His fingers tapped away at the prompts and keys on the screen and after checking the number at least 10 times, then hit SEND.

 

Joey:

_Hey! Is this Haura?_

 

Short and simple. He probably should have included his name, he cursed. Well, if she doesn’t reply he’ll make sure to tell her in person tomorrow. Not too soon after this thought, his phone chimed.

 

Haura:

_Depends…is this Mr. Wheeler?_

He smiled at her already playing smart ass. Their homeroom teacher had a habit of calling him that any time he wanted to give him a hard time.

Joey:

_Maaaaybe, what if it’s not?_

Haura:

_Then he’s going to be out of a date this weekend_

 

‘A date’?! He felt his body scream—if that’s a thing that can happen. But! He has to keep his cool. Maybe she didn’t mean an actual romantic date. She could have used it for lack of a better term, who knows. But he didn’t want to scare her off.

Joey:

_I’m in luck it seems!_

Haura:

_Hi Joey_

_:^)_

Ah! His chest!

Joey:

_Hi Haura :D_

_Just wanted to make sure you have my number_

_I can add you to the group chat now too. We’re already making plans_

Haura:

_Thanks I appreciate it!_

He was pleased things were going smoothly but there was still something biting at him in the back of his mind...

Joey:

_No problem!_

_Do you have any idea what you want to do Saturday?_

_Are we going to meet you there? Or we could pick you up on our way to the train?_

 

Haura:

_Ugh, I don’t know yet I haven’t decided if I wanna take him up on his offer or not._

_Can I let you know by Thursday?_

So she’s undecided on Kaiba…but as long as he gets to spend some time with her, he’ll be okay. Or that’s what he’s going to tell himself.

 

Joey:

_Of course, take your time. We’ll meet up either way_

_You have to see my dart skillz_

Haura:

_Oh yeah? Are you going to win a bear for me?_

Joey:

_No, I’m gonna win it for myself and brag to you about it all day_

Haura:

_Oh very funny. We’ll see who’s got skill!!_

He caught himself smiling only because he realized his cheeks were sore. He was also glad he wasn’t coming off as awkward or uncomfortable. His phone chimed again.

 

Haura:

_Hey I’ve got some homework to finish up but we’ll talk tomorrow, okay?_

_Goodnight, Joey!!!_

Joey:

_Yeah get your work done missy!! See you tomorrow and good night :)_


	3. Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another shortish chapter. i recently moved so that's kind of affected the time i wanna put into finishing this.  
> this chapter is a little mopey oops

The next morning, things went as they usually did. No one was late to class, the library was open, however, Haura did hang around the group a little bit more before class started. She even saw them off to the cafeteria before lunch. Today, Joey had the bright idea to make an appearance in the library. Perhaps she’d like the company. And, after he ate, that’s what he did.

 

Making his way to the second floor of the school and towards the library, he peered in through one of the windows finding her comfortably curled up, knees to chest, in one of the arm chairs reading a comic book. Whatever she was reading must have been interesting due to the slightly knitted brow and very focused gaze.

 

He quietly padded over to her, coming around the back of her chair. “So who’s fighting who?” He asked before he settled in the seat next to her. Her head shot up, then she heaved a sigh of relief which confused him. “Uhh, everything alright?”

 

“Sorry, Joey,” she sighed again, “I thought you were Seto.”

 

He frowned, “uh, sorry, I guess?” His eyes wandered to the other side of the library.

 

Reaching over and placing her hand on his knee, she brought his regard back to her. His eyes flew to hers and he gulped, sparks flying through his leg. There was a reassuring small smile on her face, “I didn’t mean it like that.” She leaned back in her chair and let her shoulders slack. “I’m kind of avoiding him to be honest,” she laughed. “He really wants me to go with him Saturday. He’s like, _really_ adamant.”

 

Joey smoothed his hand over the knee she touched and clenched the fabric, relishing the warmth there, “I, uh, take it you’re still unsure?”

 

“I’m leaning towards turning him down,” she replied. “I don’t know. I think he likes me but I don’t think I want that from him.”

 

Joey straightened in his seat. Admittedly, he fought the smile his lips tried to curl into, he didn’t want to seem like a jerk obviously. But the pride he got from knowing she wasn’t into Kaiba was a boulder off his chest. Before he spoke again, he cleared his throat, “I think you should be honest with him, you don’t have to go into detail about your feelings, but,” confidently (borderline smugly), he stole a line from his best friend, “it is important to have your feelings sorted out.”

 

Haura had a strange expression on her face Joey couldn’t exactly place. It was almost stoic but a little offended? Maybe forlorn too? He hoped he hadn’t made her feel that away, he felt his chest sink at the thought. He watched her shift in her seat, bringing her feet to the floor. The finger she had tucked in between the book as to not lose her spot lightly rubbed between the pages aimlessly. Joey couldn’t take the dragging silence but he didn’t know what he could say or do to remedy her mood. “Well, uhhh, I mean…” he stammered. He tried starting a few sentences to no avail before she cut him off.

 

“Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando.”

 

His eyes narrowed quizzically, “huh?”

 

He was rewarded with a soft chuckle, her fingers pushed some hair behind her ear. She opened her comic again and showed him the page she was reading before they started talking. “You asked me who was fighting who.”

 

Seeing her gentle smile return relieved him but he was still cautious of the sudden mood change. He figured he was better off following her lead and forget it. “So what’s their deal?”

 

He saw her eyes light up, something he’s seen happen before when she’s about to talk about something she’s really in to. He couldn’t help but give her a goofy smirk as she explained exactly why a gentleman and a vampire had beef with each other. She continued to explain the important points of the story—like a stolen kiss—along with sprinkling little bits she found hilarious or amusing. He learned she read this series in its current entirety already but decided to start over for fun. Joey would ask questions here and there and she would happily answer them. She even offered to let him borrow some of the books if he was interested. With a gentle smile he told her he’d love that.

 

This went on until the lunch bell rang, letting them know it was time to head back to class. They both stood, Haura gathering what few things she brought with her and Joey putting his hands in his pockets. They walked to leave together and Joey held the door open for her once they approached it. This is where their classes split so they’d have to head in opposite directions. Rolling his shoulders he turned to her to speak but she beat him to it, “hey…um, thanks, Joey…for the advice I mean.” She shyly held her books to her chest.

 

“Oh!” He pushed his bangs out of his face, “it’s no problem. Hope it helps you figure things out.”

 

She nodded, and they stood there, quietly (and a little awkwardly) a few moments watching the other’s eyes before Haura shook her head and spoke again. “I’ll fill you guys in with my end of the details later, okay?”

 

He gave her a cheery, “sure thing!” trying his hardest to come off as understanding and non-awkward as possible. That weird moment of holding each other’s gaze happened again before they went their separate ways.  

 

~~~~~

 

The rest of the school day went on without much consequence. Ritualistically, Joey and Yugi met up once their last class let out but, instead of heading home, they went to the mall. Either of them could go without shopping for clothes from themselves but they both admitted they could use some new threads. Begrudgingly starting the task at hand, they went through the racks and racks of clothes, occasionally pointing out ugly shirts to each other. Yugi found a The Legend of Zelda shirt he really liked that he tucked neatly under his arm for later.

 

It took Joey much longer to figure out what he wanted because…well, he didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t consider himself “popular” or “trendy” so he was pretty out of touch with what was stylish. A lot of the clothes he found looked like they were compliment pieces which he had no idea what to pair them with. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Yuge.” He exasperated.

 

His spiky haired friend couldn’t help but laugh at Joey’s frustrated efforts. What he was doing really was adorable. “Joey, I know this means a lot to you but I think you’re putting too much thought into it.” Joey let out an irritated growl as he rummaged through the rack. He did find a small collection of shirts that Yugi got the unofficial job of holding for him. “Why don’t you try these on first?" He gestured with his hands, "this black sweater looks promising.” He encouraged.

 

He rolled his head back and sighed, “Alright.” On their way to the changing room their phones went off—indicating some new entries to the group chat. Yugi handed the clothes off to Joey and leaned up against the wall outside, pulling out his phone. “Anything good?” Joey called.

 

It took a moment for Yugi to read through some of the texts, but he found the new entries. “Hm, yeah actually. Haura says she’s gonna meet us at the park Saturday…” he trailed off.

 

A curse came from the stall as Joey bumped an elbow on the wall. “Why is this thing so hard to get on?” After sorting out the sweater, he shoved a hand in his pocket for his phone. In the back of his mind he thought how much fun he’s going to have taking the shirt off when he’s finished trying it on. Scrolling through the app, there the text was.

 

Haura:

_Yeah, I’ll meet you guys at the park. I’ll be there before you guys anyways_

_Text me when you get there!_

 

He went quiet for a moment then let himself fall back against the wall making a small thud that Yugi heard from outside. “Joey…?” He knew what this meant.

 

“She’s going with Kaiba.”

 

~~~~~

 

The sun had gone down by the time they made it back to Joey’s place. Yugi insisted on walking home with him. The train ride and most of the walk was spent in silence. “You can stop giving me the Mother Hen look every 5 minutes, Yuge. I’m fine.” Joey finally said as they reached the door to his apartment.

 

Yugi jumped, startled by the sudden break in silence, and to being known he was caught. A hand went to the back of his head and rubbed it nervously. “I’m sorry, Joey. I didn’t mean to stare.”

 

They both walked in and dumped their bags on the table. Although defeated, Joey did buy the black turtleneck he tried on as a form of self-care, along with a new pair of sneakers. “If you’re staying you know where the futon is.” Joey said without so much as looking at Yugi and strolling to his fridge. He didn’t know why he looked in it--he didn’t plan on eating, he wanted to go to bed. Maybe he just did it so he was doing something. He did grab a water bottle for himself. “D’you want something to drink?”

 

“I’m alright.” Yugi shook his head. “Do you want me to stay?”

 

Joey pulled out one of the chairs to the table a little more aggressively than he intended to, nearly knocking it over. Letting his body go limp, he flopped down in the seat. “I want to take a shower and go to bed.”

 

“Are you gonna go to school tomorrow?”

 

“Come _on_ , Yuge.” He rolled his eyes then rose to his feet, his tone heavy with annoyance. His question was innocent enough, Yugi never asked anything with malicious intent. “I don’t…I don’t know yet.” He answered, looking away.

 

His friend nodded, putting his phone to his ear, “I’ll ask my grandpa to bring some clothes for me.”


	4. Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew sorry guys a little more angst and yugi being comforting to joey but next chapter is going to be a big chapter so please bear with me!
> 
> as always, enjoy and feedback is appreciated!

The buzzing of an alarm clock lead the two boys to stir, almost groaning in unison at the sound. Although Joey had his own bed and, not to mention, a spare futon for Yugi to sleep on, the boys fell asleep in the living room. Joey’s body was sprawled out on the floor while Yugi was curled up on the couch. The last time they looked at the clock it said something around 3 am—it was now 6:30 in the morning.

 

With an arm placed over his face to block the morning light creeping in through the blinds, Joey’s other hand palmed around his person for the noisy culprit: his phone. He barely opened an eye upon bringing it to his face to slide and tap at the screen. There were a few messages from his friends and some game notifications, but he had no desire to check either. Lightly chucking his phone to the side, he rolled over in an attempt to fall back asleep.

 

The two decided they’d ditch school today. Joey didn’t think he’d be able to focus in class (well…more so than usual) and he definitely didn’t feel up for any interaction, especially if it meant anything with Haura. Yugi, of course, wanted to be there for his friend. After being this close of friends for so long, Yugi has learned a few ways to handle and help Joey when he gets on any end of the spectrum of upset. Yugi never wants to over step his boundaries or suffocate anyone with worry. He would certainly give Joey the space he’d ask for if it came to that, but letting Joey sit too long in his thoughts was never a good thing he’s observed. Usually, Joey was one to bounce back quickly, but this was a scenario they hadn’t dealt with before and Yugi wanted to make sure his friend had the support he needed.

 

“Why do you still wake up so late?” Yugi mumbled without any effort to open his eyes, his face squished against a couch pillow.

 

“I meet you on time every morning, don’t I?” One of Joey’s hands scratched at his lower back, “don’t judge me.”

 

A tired smile crept up on Yugi’s face and he let out an amused grunt. He took a moment, mentally prepping himself to wake up. Yugi was dead tired too but he wanted to get a few things done before they spent the day lounging around. He started by stretching out his short limbs to wake his body up. “Do you have anything to make for breakfast?” He asked, finally raising himself up then moving his legs so his feet touched the floor.

 

Joey let out a long sleepy hum in contemplation, “there’s cereal in the cabinets.”

 

“That it?”

 

“Uuuhhhhh, there’s definitely eggs…..not sure about anything else.”

 

That was enough for Yugi to get up and find stuff on his own. His friend had a rough night and he was going to let him sleep. Thus beginning his search for breakfast ingredients. He went to the fridge first and there certainly were eggs in there. Tucking those under his arm, he rummaged a little further and took a quick look in the drawers. He found some unopened sausage in one and his eyes lit up. _Great!_ Something substantial he could make for them.

 

Careful to not make too much noise, Yugi went through the cabinets to find the pans and bowls he’d need and placed them on the counter as quietly as he could. After going over the mental checklist he set over again, he began making breakfast.

 

~~~~~

 

_Joey sat as his desk, barely paying attention to what the teacher was lecturing about. There was movement outside the classroom door that caught his attention. Moving his eyes to the door, he saw the tall Seto Kaiba sauntering his way down the hall._

_Why does this seem so familiar? Time started to slow down while Joey was stuck in his confusion._

_Kaiba glanced to his side, to which whatever he was looking for must not have been there, leading him to twist his body to look behind him._

 

_Oh no._

_The young CEO’s body was turned enough for Joey to see Haura trying to catch up to him. Once so, she reached out a hand to Kaiba’s, their fingers tangling together._ _That barely noticeable smile appeared on Kaiba’s face again. Disgusting. She seemed to be in a lovestruck haze as Kaiba raised her chin with his finger. She had the sweetest smile on her face and a visible blush to her cheeks, her eyes even seemed to gleam while she gazed into his._

_Joey struggled to move his body, he was frozen in his place no matter how hard he begged his body to. He wanted out of there, his heart was racing, and he was sure there were bugs crawling all over his body. He felt sick. He felt so sick._

_It wasn’t until he saw Kaiba crane his head down towards Haura that Joey started to scream and couldn’t tell if it was internally or not. His disapproval was so loud, but no one reacted to him. The teacher droned on, his classmates took notes, Haura and Kaiba still stood in place, their lips inching closer._

_Joey blinked and it wasn’t Kaiba standing with Haura in his arms anymore it was that Dio character from the comic she was reading in the library._

_Just before Dio had closed the distance between their lips, he locked eyes with Joey and gave him an impish grin, flashing vampiric fangs._

A jolt went through Joey’s body, rising him from his morning catnap. The pleasant smell of sausage and syrup hit his nose, to which Joey was thankful for as it gave him relief knowing he was just dreaming. His heart was still pounding and he noticed he broke out in a bit of a sweat, but realizing it was all in his head did wonders for his nerves.

 

 

Although, he was thankful Yugi made breakfast for him, he felt bad he didn’t help out. So, after heaving a heavy sigh and finally rising to his feet, Joey made his way to the kitchen to do so.

 

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Yugi turned. “Oh, hey, Joey, good morning!” He greeted sweetly but he nearly stopped in his tracks once he noticed the sheen on his forehead, “uhhh, how’d you sleep?”

 

Peeking over Yugi to the counter, he took in all that he had cooked. Sausage, eggs, and French toast? His mouth was starting to water. Catching his concerned gaze however, Joey’s cheeks pinked and he looked away. Nervously he rolled his shoulders, “I slept okay, how about you?”

 

Yugi watched him closely, reading his face, “I slept alright...” Joey hurriedly moved to the cabinets and started pulling out the plates they needed, then to the drawers for the silverware. Yugi still watched him, but out of the corner of his eye.

 

They both walked to the table, arranging the plates and food accordingly. They didn’t hesitate to dig in once they sat down across from each other. Yugi and Tea were the cooks of the group, everything they made was freaking delicious. But Yugi was ‘The King of Games and Breakfast’ according to Tristan and Joey. They always got a playful eye roll from Yugi when they called him that.

 

Some time went on before they actually spoke, which wasn’t entirely chalked up to Joey’s mood, but in part to them both being quite hungry. “So what do you want to do today? We probably should avoid going out in public until schools out.”

 

Joey leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know, I was thinking of pulling out the Nintendo 64 and revisiting some old games?”

 

Yugi laughed, it was pretty normal of them to have days where they played video games all day and he thought this would be perfect for them. “Sounds good to me.” A warm and infectious smiled crossed his face.     

 

~~~~~

 

Plates, pans, and silverware were loaded into the dishwasher and forgotten after a few minutes of breaking out the Nintendo 64. The two elected to pay Pokemon Snap a revisit. They’ve made decent progress at the point, already traveling through the cave level and snapping the shots that will give them the best ratings there.  

 

Being so wrapped up in the game himself, Yugi forgot he wanted to take some time to see how Joey was feeling. Looking over, he was a lot more relaxed and seemed to be enjoying himself, so Yugi tried to test the waters. “What do you think about going out tomorrow? We can try to speed run Ocarina of Time again.”

 

Joey huffed through his nose and shook his head with a small smile on his face, probably recollecting the memory of the last time they tried to speed run a game. He did tense a little after though, but continued to keep his eyes fixed on the screen as he took snapshots. “I might still go. I could probably use the distraction.”

 

Yugi grinned. “That’s a great idea, Joey. We’ll have fun no matter what.”

 

“Yeah, I know we will.” He made it to the part of the level that was always pretty frustrating for him: getting a picture of a Pikachu floating in the air by a bundle of balloons. His thumb tapped away at the button that threw pester balls. There wasn’t much method to his actions, just mindless tapping as all his thoughts on tomorrow began to resurface. Joey felt his tongue get dry and a tiny knot form in his stomach. He wished he wasn’t so weak over this. He’s had crushes before—sure—even been rejected a few times. But…this was so different.

 

His hands loosened around the controller as he swallowed hard, his thumb still incessantly tapping away, but more slowly. “There’s just…” He sighed. “I’m almost scared to run into her.” He rolled his shoulders to relax himself, his eyes closed for a short moment as he thought more on it.

 

Until…

 

 _Poof_!

 

One of the pester balls connected and the Pikachu escaped from the evil clutches of the Zubat tormenting it. Jaw slack and eyes widened, “holy fuck, I finally did it…”

 

Yugi jumped and shifted his position to sit on his knees. Placing a hand on Joey’s shoulder, he lightly shook him. “Quick! Get the picture!”

 

Without much hesitation Joey’s posture shot up as he quickly fiddled with the controller. The rest of the night they were caught up in games again. It came to Yugi’s attention again to maybe talk some more, but he left it alone. They were having so much fun now he didn’t want to take that momentarily peace of mind from his best friend.


	5. Saturday Afternoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew it's the big day! i think i'm as nervous as joey probably is
> 
> this chapter was originally barely 1000 words, now it's a little over 2000! hope you get what you need from this one, next one should be good too ^^

Well, today was the day. Yugi stayed the night again as the walk to the train was much shorter from Joey’s place (and a part of him wanted to be with his friend in case he changed his mind). The two went to bed at a decent time last night. Thankfully, sleep came a lot more easily to the both of them after staying up most of the previous night.

 

Although, Joey’s plan of having a date today fell through, he still opted to wear the clothes he bought for the occasion. Black turtleneck, dark fitted jeans, new sneakers, and then a black and red varsity styled jacket he’d almost forgot he even owned. It was actually a gift from Yugi, with a Red Eyes Black Dragon embroidered on the back. It had sat in the back of his closet primarily out of fear something might happen to it--be it a spill or it getting stolen. But today, he decided why the hell not?

 

Looking himself over in the mirror for the tenth or so time, Joey wasn’t completely satisfied with his look. On a whim, he wet his hand and run his fingers through the front of his hair, sweeping it back. He’s sure he’s seen some of his classmates do this. It wasn’t 100% accurate to what he’s seen but, it was enough for him to give his reflection a nod. “Hey, you just about ready, Yuge?” He called, now, from his room as he grabbed his keys and tucked his wallet in his back pocket. Closing the door behind him, and making his way towards the main door, he saw Yugi leaning against it with his arms crossed and patiently waiting for his friend.

 

Yugi had a bit of a different look today too, his usually loose spiky hair was pulled back into a small bun with his blonde bangs free. Clad in his Zelda tee shirt and a green hoodie, he gave Joey a once over and raised an eyebrow curiously at him. “Well, this is certainly different.”

 

The blonde stopped in his tracks and looked to his friend then down at his outfit. “That good or bad?”

 

Yugi laughed and nodded, “good. I’m glad you finally decided to wear the jacket I gave you.” He was aware as to why Joey avoided wearing it and never held it against him. He knew his friend cherished it and that’s all that mattered.

 

“It’s gotta see the light of day sometime, right?” He joked.

 

~~~~~

The train ride was predominantly quiet, which wasn’t entirely unusual, as this was a time Yugi and Joey would put in their headphones and listen to music, play games, or watch videos on their phones. Every now and then one of them would lean over and show them something amusing they’ve come across on social media, sometimes sparking a conversation.

 

Upon exiting the train, they caught Tea as she was leaving hers across the platform. They waved and navigated their way to the upper level, where they ran in to Tristan, who seemed to have been waiting for them already from Joey’s assumption. Joey chose to avoid the group chat today for…personal reasons, he had Yugi with him anyway so he could just relay whatever he needed to know.

 

Tristan commented on the amount of people at the station once they got on the escalator. It wasn’t an anomaly for a train station to be busy on a weekend, but they all agreed that the crowd volume was a little denser than usual. “Hopefully, the park isn’t too crowded in that case.” Tea mentioned. 

 

Once out of the station entirely, Joey and Yugi stepped to the side and waited for the rest of the group to huddle with them due to being separated by the herd. With his hands in his pockets, Joey looked around, not searching for anything in particular. There was a point where the ocean of people randomly split—human nature and crowd mentality is so strange. But in that moment a small form looking at her phone caught Joey’s attention. “Haura?” He meant to say to himself but it was definitely loud enough for her to hear.

 

She lifted her head and looked in the direction she heard her name. Upon recognizing her friends, she smiled brightly and giddily walked over to them. “Hey, guys! Glad you found me!”

 

Joey almost didn’t recognize (or believe it was) her, but her copper eyes were what convinced him he wasn’t imagining things. Over the last few days he wondered what she would wear out of uniform, and although he’d feel the same way if she approached him while in a garbage bag, nothing could prepare him for the big reveal. She stood before him in a dark gray sleeveless ribbed top and high waist shorts. Overall a really cute outfit, he admitted, but he had no clue to the figure their uniform hid underneath.

 

Haura was certainly not thin, her arms were round and she even had some tummy, but her clothes hugged her in all the right places in Wheeler’s mind. Her legs? Does she run or something? They’re so toned, she has to. As his, hopefully inconspicuous, gaze made its way to her hips (somewhere, he came to the conclusion, he wanted to sink his teeth into. Literally. Is that a thing?), he thought back to the day Haura’s friend commented on her...behind. He suppressed a groan, closing his eyes and turning his head to hide his reddening face. He had to, at this point there was no way he could look at her anymore without giving himself away. But then he realized that that was something Kaiba could rake his eyes over on the daily. _Kaiba_. Now Joey was back to his unfortunate reality.

 

Breaking Joey’s train of thought Yugi spoke. “It was nice of you to meet us here. How were the new attractions?”

 

That earned him a confused look from Haura. “Hm? I just got here.”

 

Yugi paused for a moment, glancing at Joey who had the same perplexed look on his face. “You didn’t come with Kaiba?” He asked. “You said you would be here already. We thought that’s what you meant.”

 

“Huh?” Her eyes were narrow in an attempt to understand but once she remembered the text, she explained. “Oh that? The train from my place gets here before yours by a lot, I thought I’d be way ahead of you but apparently it’s ahead of schedule today.

 

“Yeah, I just texted her that we were all close.” Tristan interjected.

 

“So I waited here for y’all.” She smiled and glanced at Joey, a gesture he didn’t miss. Realizing he was looking at her, her eyes jumped away to the group of friends.

  

“Well, now that we’re all here, let’s go! There’s gotta be a line.” Tea suggested, opening her arms around her friends as to herd them towards the park.

 

~~~~~

 

And upon arrival, there certainly was a line. It wasn’t so bad, but they all knew they were going to be there for a while. Yugi, Tristan, and Tea were engaged in a conversation in front of Joey, and Haura was just behind him. The blonde leaned back against the railing and sighed. How is he supposed to feel right now? _Like an idiot_ _for starters_ , he scolded himself. He would always tease his friends with a dumb saying that went: ‘Don’t assume ‘cause it’ll make an _ass_ out of yo _u_ and _me_.’ And, yeah, he was absolutely feeling like an ass. What does this mean for the rest of the day? Should he still keep his distance?

 

The shorter figure clearing her throat next to him pulled him out of his thoughts. “Um, Joey?” She started, her voice a little shaky. “Can I ask you something? But…” She tensed, “you can’t make fun of me.” Her right hand began to rub her left arm shyly. She attempted to look up at him but her eyes would dart elsewhere upon meeting his.

 

Was she nervous? This isn’t something Joey expected. He didn’t realize he thought on it for so long, causing an awkward silence, until he raised his eyes and saw she was waiting for a response. He blushed under her gaze, “oh, uh, yeah. Shoot.” He smiled weakly.

 

She hesitated, her teeth catching the side of her bottom lip (something else Joey didn’t miss). Eventually she shook her head and asked “was I wrong to assume this was a date?”

 

_Whoa._

There’s no way he heard that right. His heart was thumping in his chest and his cheeks felt hot. Those are perfectly reasonable reactions to have if he _did_ hear that correctly. Unbeknownst to him, the three friends behind him quieted their conversation to listen in now. He looked down to her to find she had gathered the courage to lock onto his eyes finally.  “D-do you want it to be?” He managed to ask, matching her nervousness.

 

“Do you?” She countered quickly, even throwing herself off at how quickly she asked, which made her chuckle.

 

“That’s not fair, you know,” he chuckled too then gave her a gentle smile. “But…yeah.” He answered confidently, careful to not to come off as smug. “I really do.”

 

He saw her smile, but the vision didn’t last long because she hugged him immediately after. He tensed at first and looked over to his friends who were failing at hiding their smiles as they watched them. This made him relax. This is real. This is really happening. So he gently hugged her back, one hand stroking a small path along her spine.

 

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and tucked some hair, which she wore down, behind her ear. “Sorry about that.”

 

“Was that to throw me of my dart game?” He teased.

 

He earned another smile, but this one coyer, “that would heavily imply that you had any to begin with.”

 

He playfully howled, “I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into!”

 

~~~~~

 

After buying their tickets, Tea and Yugi voiced their need for a restroom before heading towards the rides. So Tristan, Joey, and Haura waited outside for them. Someone Tristan knew from school approached him and they started talking, leaving Joey and Haura to themselves again.

 

Haura and Joey started a conversation about one of their teachers as Joey watched the people in the crowd walk past him. He was trying to not have his eyes on her too often as he didn’t want to seem creepy. But, boy, was it hard to not take her in. Maybe he was kidding himself in thinking it was because this was the first time he saw her out of uniform but…who’s he trying to fool? He was kidding himself. _Maybe_ that played a small part in it but, _let’s be real here_ , he’d thought. Who gave her the right to look that cute?

 

The strong and distinct smell of a cigarette caught his attention, leading him look around to find the source. It was so close. Much to his shock, he found the thing held between Haura's fingers as she, what looked like, kissed the air repeatedly. It took him a minute to figure out she was making little smoke circles. “Are you seriously smoking?”

 

Broken out of her concentration, she flicked her tongue over her bottom lip. “Uh, yeah, sorry. I thought you knew?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“It’s a habit I picked up from my old school.” She looked sad talking about it, but continued, “I ain’t proud of it. But at least I have a party trick, right?” She tried to blow it off, waving smoke away from her face.

 

He laughed, “I don’t think it’s worth it.”

 

She looked at him, paused for a moment and straightened herself. Leaning over to the trash can next to her, she scrubbed the bud out on the rim then tossed it in. Turning back to him she was rewarded with a soft smile, “you’re right.”

 

He chuckled, “wow, I had no idea I was so persuasive. Looks like I have a promising career in addiction counseling.”  He gave her a look that he thought was suave as hell but found she was on her phone. _Oh, well, keep that one in my pocket_.

 

Without taking her eyes off her phone, she gestured with her hand for him to come closer. Leaning over, he found she had Snapchat open and the dog filter activated so she had a dog nose and ears. Joey playfully rolled his eyes, “really?”

 

“Oh, come on! I can use it as your contact picture on my phone.” His playfully judgmental expression didn’t change which made her stick out her bottom lip in a pout and puff her cheeks. “Please?” She whined.

 

Well, he couldn’t say no to that face. Giving in, he leaned in but made sure there was still space between them. After a moment or two he had his own set of ears and a dog nose. Giggles made their way directly into his ear once the filter registered which made him glance at her and smile endearingly. At the sound of a shutter his eyes widened, drawing them back to her screen. _Oh, jeez_. _That face is so embarrassing_! He looked so completely smitten and in love with her. Which wasn’t entirely too far from the truth but still.

 

“Hm, I’ll save that one but let’s take a better one!”

 

 _Oh, thank god_. His heart stopped banging against his ribcage—for now.

 

Dainty fingers wrapped around either side of his jaw and gently tugged in her direction. “Come closer, silly, you’re almost out of the frame!”

 

The normally regulated heart rate was short lived it seemed. But he did follow the tug of her hand, closing the distance between themm. Her shoulder and side was lightly pressing against his chest and oh, he felt so warm. The pleasant kind of warm, not the kind wracked with jumbled nerves which was a relieving feeling. It’s not to say she wasn’t igniting sparks within him, those were still there, he honestly felt himself calming down around her.

 

“Okay, ready?” She asked.

 

“Yep!” His old self was making a reappearance, confidence and goofiness. This is great.

 

“One! Two! And…!” They both made a face: she winked, still holding his chin, and he hit Derek Zoolander’s Blue Steel _perfectly_.  And that made Haura erupt into a giggling fit, removing her hand from his chin to hold her side. “Oh my _god_ , Joey!” She squealed.

 

“What’s so funny?” He was trying to contain his laughter, some slipping through. “That’s my normal face.” He hit it again, but much more toned down.

 

She rolled her eyes, her giggles subsiding, “there’s more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking you know.”

 

 “Sounds fake.” He retorted, still in character.

 

Shaking her head as she slipped her phone back into her pocket, she raked her eyes over him once. “You do look nice today though. This isn’t what I expected if I’m being honest,” she let out a chuckle.

 

Joey hesitated a moment, “if _I’m_ being honest. I don’t normally dress this way.” He looked away. Why did he even say that? It made him regret it even more when Haura quirked up an eyebrow at him.

 

“Then how do you usually dress?” Her tone was genuinely inquiring.

 

Joey thought for a moment, “you know what? Can you hold this for me?” He shrugged off his jacket and held it out to her. She took it from him, throwing it over her shoulder as he crossed his arms and took the hem off the turtleneck in his fists then tugged it over his head. After freeing himself from the sweater, he pulled down the shirt he had underneath that hiked up in the separation. He held out his hand for Haura to hand his jacket back but caught her with her eyes widened and…are her cheeks pink? She didn’t move until he quietly cleared his throat.

 

She snapped her head up and blinked, then quickly gave him his jacket back.

 

Joey tried not to dwell on it too much and continued to slide his arms into the sleeves and adjusted the jacket back onto his shoulders. “Ta da!”

 

She smiled gently, tilting her head slightly, “that looks about right. Except…” she looked at his hair, then wrung her fingers, “uh, can I?”

 

Joey snorted then bent down, “have at it.”

 

Fingers ran through his blonde locks then shook and rearranged them. Stepping away, she looked over his head again then clapped her hands together. “There he is.”

 

As he straightened himself, Tea and Yugi finally reappeared. Apparently the line wasn’t limited to just the park entrance. “Are we all ready to go?” Tea asked excitedly.

 

“Of course!” Haura cheered.

 

“Then let’s go!” Tea grabbed Yugi’s wrist and tugged him along, the rest of them following behind.

 

As they made their way into the park, Joey and Haura were pretty quiet but not strangely so. One would comment on a store front or pictures of food they’d pass. “So what do you want to check out first? One of the new attractions or the classics?” He asked her. “I’m pretty stoked for the roller coaster.”

 

“It’s all new to me remember?” She answered. “Show me around, I’ll follow your lead.”

 

“You got it!” He replied eagerly, maybe a little too eagerly. Could anyone blame him? After this week of an emotional roller coaster, he was ready to ride a real one--with _his date._ With Haura. He still couldn’t fully wrap his head around it but there she was walking right alongside him ready to take on the park just like him. He wanted to pinch himself but the idea that came to mind to test his theory was much more appealing. “Hey.” He called gently.

 

She turned her head to him, then smiled sweetly as he had his elbow slightly bent to her. She gave him a look to silently confirm if it was okay to take which he nodded then looked ahead of him. Her arm hooked into his then her other hand rested on his arm.

 

After comfortably relaxing his arm and tucking his hand in his jacket pocket he decided that _now_ he was ready to take on the park.


	6. Saturday Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretend i didnt just go three months without touching this. it's a bit rushed, i hope it flows alright

_Today’s been such a blur_ , Joey thought to himself. He and his friends took advantage of all the rides they could get on—including whatever kid rides they could convince the operators to let them squeeze into. They all certainly snacked on almost everything there, everyone making a _point_ that Haura tried the signature sundae, called ‘The Blue Eyes Parfait’. Kaiba was corny about naming things, they all agreed, but his taste in food was definitely on point.  A 12 dollars well spent in Joey’s book as Haura shared the sundae with him. Like, actually. She had fed him a spoonful—twice. He was sure if he was holding the dish the ice cream was in it’d melt instantly.

 

A flicking sound pulled Joey from his thoughts and his attention back to the girl sitting next to him. He found she had another cigarette between her lips once his gaze was on her. The little purple lighter cradled in her hands refused to light for her, causing her brow to knit and a cute growl in irritation to rumble from her throat. Joey made an amused huff before taking it from her gently, “it’s probably for the best, ya know...” He took a try at flicking the lighter for her, and on the third flick he got a flame.

 

Haura leaned forward, sticking the end of the cigarette in the flame and inhaled. With a quirked eyebrow and a quick glance, she turned her head away from him to exhale the smoke. “Enabler,” she mumbled with a coy grin.

 

He laughed, “You’re right, I don’t know why I did that.”

 

They sat in silence as the ferris wheel made its way round. But it was that comfortable silence. They both had content smiles on their faces as they watched the clouds and stars move around them. This was the most comfortable he’s ever felt with her. It was one of those moments where they were aware of each other’s company but gave their existence up to the moment so time would stand still. Haura would occasionally bring the cigarette to her mouth and take an inhale. Joey decided to make the bold move of resting his arm along the back seat of their car just above her shoulders. He got a peek from Haura, but her smile remained so he relaxed into his seat. Haura was about to bring the cigarette back to her lips before she started to snicker to herself.

 

He raised an eyebrow in her direction, “what’s so funny, huh?”

 

She shook her head, “Tristan was right, you really are a screamer.”

 

“Ugghh, come on,” he playfully groaned and lolled his head to the side, “I don’t need shit from you too.”

 

“I don’t mean to tease,” her hand went to the side to flick the excess ash off the cigarette, “it’s a part of your charm.”

 

“My charm?” He adjusted himself so he was turned more towards her.

 

“Yeah,” she paused, thinking to herself. “You ever meet someone who is just 100% completely and uniquely themselves?” She looked in his direction. He nodded and she continued, “You’re one of those people. Yugi too. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so selfless and caring.”

 

He smiled at that. “Yuge is a really good friend. I’m lucky to have someone like him put up with me.”

 

“Yeah, that’s gotta be a chore.”

 

He brought a hand to his chest in mock offense, mouth agape, to which Haura burst out in a laughing fit. He grinned and shook his head. “I can’t believe you.”

 

They riled down, taking notice that their car passed through the loading bay again. The ferris wheel takes 3 rotations in total. Two full rotations at an “average” speed and one at a slower one, as it would stop for a period of time to give each cart a view of the park from the top. This was their second rotation.

 

There was something about the way the lights were illuminating their space that made Joey highly aware of the person next to him. The movement her legs made to cross over themselves, then the way the leg on top swayed lightly. Her chest rising and falling with every breath, the flutter of her eyelashes as she blinked. He noticed her body jerked in a shiver, then she wrapped an arm around herself lightly. Her light chuckle brought him back to this dimension, “maybe I didn’t think this outfit through.”

 

Joey promptly shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, then held it up for her. “Here,” he smiled.

 

Holding the small stump of a cigarette in her mouth, she turned her back to him, slipped her arms into the sleeves then slid her hands under her neck and pulled her hair from underneath the jacket. “How do I look?”

 

How was he supposed to answer that without getting carried away? She was wearing his jacket. She _wanted_ to wear his jacket. Shit, she looks adorable in his jacket. He wanted to say “beautiful”, “amazing”, “pretty”, every synonym for gorgeous he could think of. He settled for, “really cute.”

 

A visible blush tinted her cheeks and her eyes pulled away from him. That wasn’t the reaction he was expecting but that wasn’t atypical to today’s events. His eyes scanned over her body again and stopped at her lips, was her bottom lip always so plump and pouty?

 

His gaze was interrupted by her bringing the little bit of her cigarette back to her lips—that he was still studying intently. “Hey,” he started, then took the cigarette from her and scrubbed it out on the railing of the car, “just so you know, you owe me.” He flicked the bud over the side to be lost into the night.

 

She swallowed hard—a gesture Joey didn’t miss. “For what?” Her voice was quiet.

 

Joey’s heart beat was thumping in his ears, he was nervous but his body craved her and to him it seemed as though it responded on its own by cupping her cheek in one hand. He took a moment to read her face for any protest, her eyes were wide but imploring. With a fluid motion he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He tried to be gentle at first--he really did—but, once he felt her sigh, he kissed her a little more eagerly. Their teeth clattered against each other causing both of them to smile into the kiss but they continued.  

 

His thumb brushed her cheek as he pulled away. They were both a little winded, but he managed to breathe out, “for making my first kiss taste like smoke.” He carefully looked at her face again, she was panting too but with a beaming smile on her face.

 

A quirky smile couldn’t help but wiggle its way to Joey’s lips, he felt a small hand grab his shirt as they both leaned in for another kiss until, “OOHHHHH!” His friends cheered together from the line. They both jumped, realizing they’d made it back to the loading bay. Yugi, Tea, and Tristan were all close to the front of the line, smiles on all their faces.

 

“WOOO JOEY!” Tristan yelled and fist bumped the air.

 

An attendant came and unlocked the door of the car for them and Joey stepped out, turning and offering Haura a hand. “Ignore them,” he rolled his eyes.

 

She smiled and shook her head, “it’s alright.” Joey made sure to shoot his friends a look on passing. Except for Yugi, of course, his friend gave him a thumbs up.

 

Once they made it to a quieter place of the park—in front of one of the fast food places—Joey sighed. “Uh, so--”

 

“You wanna go back to my place?” Haura interrupted. She was met with wide eyes and a hard swallow from Joey. “Oh! Um!” She quickly tried to deflect, a faint blush on her cheeks, “I just figured we could go somewhere less crowded!”

 

He hushed her by closing the distance between them, “it’s okay. You just beat me to asking the same thing,” he smiled.

 

Letting the tension fall from her shoulders, she sighed and returned a grin. Their eyes met before they both leant forward for a small peck.

 

“So what’ll it be? Your place or mine?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will have.....Some Sin


End file.
